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soupapalooza!

the stories
the kitchen
the market
the proof (party pics!)
the food porn
the recipes
the about
the drop me a line part
the resources
the full list
jewelry alchemy
​chipotle deviled eggs

chipotle deviled eggs: the deviled really is in the details

It’s spring! And there’s Easter and Passover and Persian New Year and bunnies and eggs and it’s all a big fertility Pagan thing. But I don’t care what you do or don’t celebrate as long as there are eggs somewhere, because eggs are badass any way you serve it up. There’s no dogma in an egg except deliciousness. I mean that is unless you’re stealing eggs from the nest of an endangered bird or a penguin, and then you’re totally going to hell. Because penguins are ridiculously cute and the world clearly needs more American Bald Eagles.

Deviled eggs, in particular, seem to really be having a moment right now. In the last few months I’ve had them about a hundred different ways, and the one at Freddy Smalls was fantastic. It’s called “buffalo deviled eggs”, and is made with Point Reyes blue cheese, celery, CP’s hot sauce and a CRACKLIN on top. Yes, a motherloving cracklin. For those of you who aren’t from the rural south or from Texas, a cracklin is fried chicken skin (or sometimes pork skin) and it’s/ they’re divine. From what I understand, which let’s face it is not that much, cracklins are also a Kosher thing called Gribenes and are a byproduct of schmaltz preparation (and schmaltz is even tastier than it is fun to say). AND they’re also Kosher for Passover.

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PostedApril 6, 2012
Authormelissa mcclure
Categoriesvegetarian, appetizers and snacks
Tagstexmex, recipe, easter, soupapalooza!, redneck, eggcellent, appetizer
1 CommentPost a comment

truffletots: it's a truffle, truffle, truffletot world

Ahhh, the starchy and deliciousness that is the tater tot got an upgrade. Tot 2.0 is big, earthy and seriously truffley.

Every soupapolooza! has a standout and this last event was no exception; I made five times the following recipe (that’s about 250 truffletots or 8.3 per guest) and there was not a single tot uneaten. Not a one, no joke. That makes the effort involved, and trust me there’s some effort involved in making 250 truffletots, all worth it. Yes, staying up until 2am boiling, ricing, piping and freezing, cutting and then freezing again was not my idea of a rocking Friday night, but “Say Yes to the Dress” was in reruns and I needed something to focus on other than viscous rayon and rhinestone tiaras. So that was good. And I got in some serious one on one time with my giant ricer which is about as romantic as anything in my life lately.

I now understand why no one really makes tater tots from scratch. This is California and the deep fryer is an exotic thing to many of my healthier friends (I feel so very sorry for these people) but the pure, unexpected joy of this little truffle potato explosion made at least two or three of my surlier party guests spontaneously smile...and maybe remember the joy of eating something with their family as a child. Only a much, much tastier version.

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PostedApril 4, 2012
Authormelissa mcclure
Categoriesvegetarian, appetizers and snacks
TagsTV dinner soupapolooza!, truffle, make ahead, recipe, potato, comfort food, appetizer, side dish, deep fryer
2 CommentsPost a comment
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chicken pot pie soup: ode to the TV dinner and you can blame it on mom's dumb luck

People in my family don’t win things. OK, maybe we win spelling bees, but not stuff like cars or money and none of us has numbers in the lottery. It’s not that we see ourselves as unlucky. In fact, we’re statistically pretty advantaged in most areas. But I’ve never won anything. Even from KCRW, our local Public Radio station that every single one of my friends has managed to score free concert tickets from for DECADES (thanks again, Jihad Jenni, for taking me along to see Scissor Sisters. Those $20 beers were pretty badass). Of course I’ve always been more interested in dating the DJs than in getting free tickets because a girl has to have priorities, but that’s a different blog post all together.

There was this one year, 1981, that we McClures were on fire with both the radio giveaway and our love of the legwarmer (I’ve got awesome blackmail pictures to prove the latter). First my brother won concert tickets to see Neil Diamond (they’re coming to America! Today!), which I think excited my mom a whole lot more than him since she insisted on chaperoning. And then she turned around like a month later and won an Amana microwave on KRBE, Houston’s very own hitmaker (tm). Of course memory is an imperfect thing, and the Tiny Dancer remembers things a little differently-- that she, in fact, won BOTH the tickets and the microwave, and that it wasn’t really a microwave that she won at all, but $50 that she put towards a microwave of her choosing. So mom, it turns out, is the luckiest McClure of all. And that probably has something to do with the fact that she wasn’t born one. Marrying a McClure, maybe not so lucky, but that was her choice.

The microwave was like this magical appliance in our house. It could make POPCORN (popcorn that tasted like burnt toast). And boil water in ONE minute! But we were not allowed to stand in front of it because we might get cancer. Lots of logic in our house, a strange meditation on faith and reason or a lack of either at any given time. But still, this exotic little box that chirped like a mechanical baby bird when it was finished cooking was God in our kitchen, which is saying a lot for a kitchen full of Presbyterian appliances. 

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PostedApril 2, 2012
Authormelissa mcclure
Categoriesstocks and broths, soup
TagsTV dinner soupapolooza!, recipe, #worth it, microwaves are the enemy, comfort food, nostalgia, homemade chicken stock, pot pie, whole lotta chickenness, green peas, spring pea, spring has sprung
1 CommentPost a comment

winter greens and apple salad with hard-boiled egg and pecorino: soup (and salad) on!

Have a happy weekend, folks and make a pot of soup. And then make the salad below to accompany it!

The picture is woeful, I’m not gonna lie. And with all apologies to my favorite ladies at food52, your salad was both gorgeous and delicious, but somehow it managed to not get captured on film in a respectable manner. But just humor me and make this salad anyway. You will love it, I promise (unless you’re allergic to any of the ingredients, in which case my imaginary lawyer has reminded me to tell you to that you will not, and should not enjoy it).

And just buy the pomegranate molasses already. It’s delicious. I found mine at Surfa’s-- you can order online here. It’s a great secret pantry staple that can be drizzled on fruit, yogurt, ice cream and cakes in addition to making excellent dressings. AND it makes a great baste for game meats. 

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PostedFebruary 24, 2012
Authormelissa mcclure
Categoriessalad, vegetarian
Tagsgreens, recipe, soupapalooza!, pomegranate molases, apple, pecorino, eggcellent, arugula, food52
CommentPost a comment

pear with blue cheese and fried pancetta: “40” isn’t just a crappy song by U2 anymore

*Blogger’s note: I originally pulled this post down because I thought it a little too raw and personal. And it is. But here’s what I’ve come to believe: it’s just a version of the truth that doesn’t portray my behavior in the best possible light, to be sure, but ultimately is just a part of the whole. And that greater whole is complicated and sometimes loving and fun and sometimes petty and mean just the same, and that’s A-OK with me. This was just how I was dealing, incredibly poorly I might add, with my own expectations of the timeline. I hope you enjoy, even if you think I’m a total ingrate.  ---mm

If I thought I tripped into a pothole when I turned 39, then I plummeted full-force into an Everest-style crevasse starting a few short months before I summited to 40. I cannot tell you how crazy I became. Like so crazy that I pitched an absolute hissy fit when I found out my whole family was going to celebrate my niece’s ninth birthday but had no plan to acknowledge mine, this year that I would officially stop being Peter Pan and become Peter Pan-fried. Yes, I was jealous of a nine year old. Trust me, I’m aware (and, sadly, was also even aware at the time) of just how terrible I was behaving, but in the interest of really spilling the pettiest of the petty details, I’d like to set the scene:

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PostedFebruary 17, 2012
Authormelissa mcclure
Categoriespositively piggy, soup
Tagsblue cheese, brattiness, panic button, soupapalooza!, cheesy, main course, 40, piggy piggy piggy, pancetta, pear
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goldsmith, sometime costume designer and badass cat owner. 

goldsmith, sometime costume designer and badass cat owner. 

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Why? Because soup is cheap, delicious and easy. Kind of like me.

a weekly attempt to eat well and to savor life. or to see how much food I can get on my clothes.

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